Wednesday, September 10, 2014

BOOK REVIEW : PRIVATE INDIA

James Patterson is a big name amongst the popular novelists of today. I hadn’t read any of his novels till now. But I have read Ashwini Sanghi’s two books – “Krishna key” and “Chanakya’s chant”. When I heard that these two authors were collaborating for a novel, I was indeed excited. Here’s what I thought of the book.

PLOT

The plot is totally Indian. Obviously. Even though James Patterson is involved, the two authors justify the title of the book, weaving an intriguing and lovely plot which is filled with Indian elements. It is a clever mix of Patterson and Sanghi’s imagination as they combine Indian religion with fiction and suspense to create a gripping novel.

The plot is something like this – PRIVATE INDIA is an Indian investigative organization headed by Santosh. Along with few other members, they take upon the case of a serial killer who is in no mood to relent. One by one, the killings take place, the killer always leaving peculiar mementos at the murder site. Fighting against the police, the killer, the media and most importantly against time, they must solve the entire mystery, their internal conflicts and put an end to the mad killer. Do they succeed?

WRITING AND LANGUAGE

The language is simple and very easy to follow. Inspite of being a thriller, it progresses smoothly and speedily without there being any high level English. The climax is built up very nicely, with there being good flashbacks of various characters.

As far as the content is concerned, I believe this is where there is more of Patterson and less of Sanghi. I had expected some really great mythological stuff from Sanghi, but here that aspect isn’t at all given importance. Not a major issue this, but I loved the former Ashwini Sanghi more. His indepth mythological content was what made him popular and different from the rest of the Indian authors. As far as Patterson is concerned, he develops this murder thriller and mingles it well along with Indian elements.

POSITIVES

The way the entire devotional aspect is incorporated in the story is wonderful. It is one of the highpoints of the plot. Secondly, the characterization is brilliant. The stories behind Santosh, Rupesh, Nisha’s past are very nicely done. The characters aren’t treated superficially; instead we feel much close to them thanks to the lovely characterization. Santosh and Rupesh’s chemistry stands out. As the head of private india, Jack’s character is lovely too. All the victims’ characters are wonderfully done too. Each one is given equal importance and and a strong reason for being killed.

NEGATIVES

The biggest problem I had was with the suspense. After all the hype and tension built up by the two authors, the final suspense seemed more of hindi movie stuff to me. The entire “Linga” angle (If you know what I meant) seemed out of place.

That said, the rest of the novel holds your interest till the last page. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it.

ULTIMATELY, “PRIVATE INDIA” is a lovely book by James Patterson and Ashwini Sanghi. It justifies itself as a fast paced riveting thriller set with india as the backdrop. A must read for people who love murder thrillers.